AOS/AOC

AOS: General Philosophy of Science including History and Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Chemistry, Philosophy of Biology, Epistemology, Philosophy of Language
AOC: Philosophy of Mind including non-western approaches, History of Analytic Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Logic

Academic Positions Held

Universität Trier, Trier, Germany
Fellow des TriKo, 2022

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME USA
Visiting Instructor, 2019-2021

  • Taught introductory course in philosophy of science fall term 2019: “Philosophy of Science: Reason, Truth, and Reality.”
  • Taught introductory, online course in the philosophy of mind spring term 2020 and fall term 2021: “Introduction to Philosophy of Mind.”

Dartmouth College
Junior Research Fellow at the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement, 2020-2021

  • Recorded, produced, and released the ICE@Dartmouth Podcast. See https://ice.dartmouth.edu/multimedia/podcast
  • Conducted Scholarly Research on models and pluralism in the origin of life studies and astrobiology.
  • Co-organized public dialogues and virtual conference “The Future of Humanity.”
     

Publications

  • Franklin Jacoby. “Data Identity, Stability, and Perspectivism.” (2021) in Synthese.
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Acids and Rust: a New Perspective on the Chemical Revolution.” (2021) in Perspectives on Science.
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Exploratory Modeling and Indeterminacy in the Search for Life.” (2022) in European Journal for Philosophy of Science.
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Evidence, Justification, and Epistemic Standards.” Minor Revisions, under review at Synthese.
  • Franklin Jacoby. “What is a Scientific Practice? Lessons from Astrobiology” Under review.
  • Franklin Jacoby. Commissioned Entry on “Perspectivism in Science.” (2021) Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
     

Refereed and Invited Presentations

  • Franklin Jacoby. “Exploratory Modeling and the Search for Life.” Invited talk for the Philosophical Issues in Space Science Seminar Series at Durham University. March 2022.
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Unexpected Data and the Unknown Theory.” The Serendipity Society (Serendipity and Big Data Symposium February 2021).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “What are we pluralist about?” British Society for the Philosophy of Science (Annual Meeting 2019).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Partitioning Scientific Practice.” Philosophy of Science Association (Biennial Meeting 2018).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “The Chemical Revolution and Perspectivism.” Integrated History and Philosophy of Science (Annual Meeting 2018).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Perspectives, scientific practice, and realism.” Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice (Annual Meeting 2018).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Perspectivism and Data Identity.” Twelfth Annual UK Integrated History and Philosophy of Science Workshop (2017).
  • Franklin Jacoby. “Data, Theory, and Scientific Perspectives.” Open Minds Postgraduate Conference (2017).
  • Michela Massimi, Franklin Jacoby, Deborah Stitt, and Casey McCoy. “Perspectival Modeling in Primary Schools.” Poster at Philosophy of Science Association (Biennial Meeting 2016).
  • Franklin Jacoby. "Wintering Habitat of the Common Loon." Poster at the Ecological Society of America (2010).
     

List of Acquired Funds

Preparing to submit Eigene Stelle application to Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft by 1 July 2022.
 

    Education

    University of Edinburgh
    PhD in Philosophy, 2016 to 2020

    • Awarded June 2020.
    • Dissertation Title: “The Hunt for Reality: Perspectives, Models, and Plurality in the Physical Sciences”
    • Primary Supervisor: Prof. Michela Massimi
    • Secondary Supervisor: Dr. Alasdair Richmond
    • Examiners: Dr Sandra Mitchell and Dr Alistair Isaac
    • Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, History and Philosophy of Science Department. Lent Term, 2018

    Scholarships, Awards, and Honours

    • European Research Council PhD Studentship: Philosophy of Science. Full funding for 3 years at the University of Edinburgh, associated with the ERC Grant Perspectival Realism: Science, Knowledge, and Truth from a Human Vantage Point.
    • Barry Goldwater Scholarship for outstanding academic merit and potential in the sciences (Received 2011). The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, Springfield, VA.
    • Udall Scholarship for dedication to the environment. (Nominated 2009 and 2010). Udall Foundation, Washington, D.C.
    • Dick Davis Award in Philosophy for academic merit in philosophy (Received 2009). College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME.
    • Presidential Scholarship for academic potential (Received 2008). College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME.

    Projects

    Data, and inferences in 19th century chemistry
    I am currently working on a project focusing on data, information, and realism. What is the relationship between scientific data and information? Philosophers have long hinted at a connection between these two important topics, with the understanding that treating data as information tells us why they are evidentially valuable and why we should expect science to tell us true things about the natural world. And yet there has been little direct treatment of the issue. This project seeks to investigate the relationship between data and information and how data are used to make inferences about phenomena. Understanding these two parts of scientific practice will allow us to develop and better articulate what scientific realism should look like. This project will investigate these topics in the context of both theoretical philosophy of science as well as in 19th century atomic chemistry, specifically its early reception. We claim that data are a type of information and that as such, they are empirical, but not entirely independent of the conceptual and epistemic commitments of those collecting and using the data. Because of the empirical component of data-as-information, a kind of minimal realism must underpin the collection and use of data. The account suggests that inferences that scientists make using data are more complex than is generally acknowledged and must take into account those conceptual and epistemic commitments.